Montville fire officials thank mutual aid for help

Montville — In an open letter, the town’s four independent fire companies have thanked mutual aid partners for assisting in putting out a large scrap yard fire on Oct. 9.

The fire took place at Connecticut Scrap on 33 Pequot Road, which is full of vehicles, scrap metal, tires and other debris. Dispatchers received multiple calls about visible flames shortly after 1 a.m. on Oct. 9.

“On arrival, heavy fire from the 5.5- acre scrap yard was easily seen from Route 163, with a large smoke plume moving over I-395, and an immediate request for apparatus and manpower from mutual aid fire departments was requested,” the letter reads.

The letter highlighted the efforts of not only Montville’s fire departments but those from four counties, including Waterford’s Quaker Hill Fire Company, Norwich’s East Great Plain Fire Department and crews from Salem, Gardner Lake, Laurel Hill, Preston, Gales Ferry, Bozrah, North Stonington, Colchester, Portland, Franklin, East Haddam, Center Groton, Westfield, Mohegan Tribe Westbrook, Middlefield, Old Saybrook, Essex, Griswold, Lyme, Old Lyme, Chester, Baltic, Windham Center and Flanders.

Montville’s fire companies also thanked other entities than helped with the operation, including the town fire marshal’s office, town police, town public works, the county fire coordinators, the state fire marshal’s office, P&H Construction, McCarthy Oil, the town Water Pollution Control

Authority, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s HazMat emergency response unit, New London County Canteen 1 and town emergency dispatchers.

“Without the dedication of our mutual aid partners and other organizations that responded and stayed on scene for hours upon hours, the firefighters who serve Montville would not have been able to operate as quickly and efficiently as we did,” the letter reads. Montville Fire Co. 1 Chief Ronald Turner, Mohegan Fire Company Chief Corey Gaetano, Chesterfield Fire Company Chief Keith Truex and Oakdale Fire Department Chief Micah Messer signed the letter.

DEEP was called to the scene to monitor air quality and water runoff from the site.

“Staff reported that light metals, vehicles, batteries and motor vehicle fluids (such as petroleum) burned in the fire, which was significant and very smoky,” DEEP spokesman Will Healey wrote in an email. “DEEP staff performed Photo Ionization Detection to check the air for volatile organic compounds. Staff reported that the readings were very low. Thousands of gallons of water were used on the fire, and staff reported there was no visible oil sheen in the runoff. The scrap yard engaged a company to pump out its oil-water separators to remove any oil in its system.”

Healey said DEEP staff are working on a report of the incident, and DEEP has not issued any violations for the fire at this time.